Gene crosstalk between COVID-19 and preeclampsia revealed by blood transcriptome analysis.

Background: The extensive spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a rapid increase in global mortality. Preeclampsia is a commonly observed pregnancy ailment characterized by high maternal morbidity and mortality rates, in addition to the restriction of fetal growth within the uterine environment. Pregnant individuals afflicted with vascular disorders, including preeclampsia, exhibit an increased susceptibility to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection via mechanisms that have not been fully delineated. Additionally, the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying preeclampsia and COVID-19 have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to discern commonalities in gene expression, regulators, and pathways shared between COVID-19 and preeclampsia. The objective was to uncover potential insights that could contribute to novel treatment strategies for both COVID-19 and preeclampsia. Method: Transcriptomic datasets for COVID-19 peripheral blood (GSE152418) and preeclampsia blood (GSE48424) were initially sourced from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Subsequent to that, we conducted a subanalysis by selecting females from the GSE152418 dataset and employed the "Deseq2" package to identify genes that exhibited differential expression. Simultaneously, the "limma" package was applied to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the preeclampsia dataset (GSE48424). Following that, an intersection analysis was conducted to identify the common DEGs obtained from both the COVID-19 and preeclampsia datasets. The identified shared DEGs were subsequently utilized for functional enrichment analysis, transcription factor (TF) and microRNAs (miRNA) prediction, pathway analysis, and identification of potential candidate drugs. Finally, to validate the bioinformatics findings, we collected peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples from healthy individuals, COVID-19 patients, and Preeclampsia patients. The abundance of the top 10 Hub genes in both diseases was assessed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Result: A total of 355 overlapping DEGs were identified in both preeclampsia and COVID-19 datasets. Subsequent ontological analysis, encompassing Gene Ontology (GO) functional assessment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, revealed a significant association between the two conditions. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) were constructed using the STRING database. Additionally, the top 10 hub genes (MRPL11, MRPS12, UQCRH, ATP5I, UQCRQ, ATP5D, COX6B1, ATP5O, ATP5H, NDUFA6) were selected based on their ranking scores using the degree algorithm, which considered the shared DEGs. Moreover, transcription factor-gene interactions, protein-drug interactions, co-regulatory networks of DEGs and miRNAs, and protein-drug interactions involving the shared DEGs were also identified in the datasets. Finally, RT-PCR results confirmed that 10 hub genes do exhibit distinct expression profiles in the two diseases. Conclusion: This study successfully identified overlapping DEGs, functional pathways, and regulatory elements between COVID-19 and preeclampsia. The findings provide valuable insights into the shared molecular mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets for both diseases. The validation through RT-qPCR further supports the distinct expression profiles of the identified hub genes in COVID-19 and preeclampsia, emphasizing their potential roles as biomarkers or therapeutic targets in these conditions.

Identification of ligustrazine-based analogs of piperlongumine as potential anti-ischemic stroke agents.

Piper longum has a specific aroma and spicy taste. In addition to edible value, current studies have shown that piper longum also has pharmacological activities such as anti-platelet aggregation, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, anti-diabetes and anti-depression. Piperlongumine is an alkaloid isolated from Piper longum. Based on our previous studies, four Piperlongumine analogs were synthesized, and their anti-platelet aggregation activities were evaluated. Among them, compound 8 has the strongest anti-platelet aggregation activity. Therefore, compound 8 was docked with stroke-related protein targets, and it was found that compound 8 had good binding affinity to MRTF-A complex and Bcl-2. Through animal experiments, it was found that compound 8 could significantly improve the pathological damage of brain tissue after ischemia and could increase the expression of MRTF-A and Bcl-2 in cerebral cortex in rats. These results suggest that compound 8 may have a good inhibitory effect on apoptosis and tissue structurel disorders induced by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, so as to reduce the injury caused by ischemic stroke.

Investigation on reliability and scalability of an FBG-based hierarchical AOFSN.

The reliability and scalability of large-scale based optical fiber sensor networks (AOFSN) are considered in this paper. The AOFSN network consists of three-level hierarchical sensor network architectures. The first two levels consist of active interrogation and remote nodes (RNs) and the third level, called the sensor subnet (SSN), consists of passive Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) and a few switches. The switch architectures in the RN and various SSNs to improve the reliability and scalability of AOFSN are studied. Two SSNs with a regular topology are proposed to support simple routing and scalability in AOFSN: square-based sensor cells (SSC) and pentagon-based sensor cells (PSC). The reliability and scalability are evaluated in terms of the available sensing coverage in the case of one or multiple link failures.

[Field molluscicidal effect of water-free formulations of niclosamide ethanolamine salt against Oncomelania hupensis snails in a marshland].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the molluscicidal effects of various water-free formulations of niclosamide ethanolamine salt against Oncomelania hupensis in the field of marshlands along the Yangtze River. METHODS: The river beach with O. hupensis snails were selected as the test field in the marshland along the Yangtze River in Pukou District, Nanjing City. A molluscicidal experiment was carried out by the mechanical dusting method with the dustable powder (DP), powder-granule (PG), granule (GR) of niclosamide ethanolamine salt respectively. The snail mortality, corrected mortality, and the reduced rate of snails' density were parallel compared among DP, PG and GR. RESULTS: On the 3rd day after the dusting, the snail mortality rates were 66.67%, 67.24%, and 66.87% in the DP, PG, and GR groups respectively, on the 7th day after the dusting, the snail mortality rates were 75.36%, 79.73%, and 73.97% in the DP, PG, and GR groups respectively, and there was no significant difference among the groups (χ2 = 0.006, 0.895, both P > 0.05). On the 15th day after the dusting, the snail mortality rates were 86.92%, 72.86%, and 71.43% in the DP, PG, and GR groups respectively, and there was a significant difference among the groups (χ2 = 9.709, P < 0.01). The snail mortality in the DP group was significantly higher than that in the PG, and GR groups. The curves of the snail corrected mortality and reduced rate of snails'density presented steadily rising trends in the DP group, but presented falling trends in the PG and GR groups on the 15th day after the dusting. CONCLUSIONS: The molluscicidal effect of DP is stable and effective in the marshland along the Yangtze River, but the drift of the powder is still not effectively controlled. It is necessary that the different dosage forms are perfected.

[Effect of water conservancy schistosomiasis control projects combined with molluscicide to control Oncomelania hupensis snails in rivers connecting with Yangtze River in Pukou District, Nanjing City].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the water conservancy schistosomiasis control projects combined with molluscicide to control Oncomelania hupensis snails in the rivers connecting with the Yangtze River. METHODS: The water conservancy schistosomiasis control projects of Zhujiashan River, Qili River and Gaowang River were chosen as the study objects in Pukou District, Nanjing City. The data review method and field investigation were used to evaluate the effect of the water conservancy schistosomiasis control projects combined with molluscicide to control O. hupensis snails. RESULTS: After the projects of the water level control and concrete slope protection and mollusciciding were implemented, the snails in the project river sections were completely eliminated. The snail diffusion did not happen in the inland irrigation area too. In the outside of the river beach, though the snails still existed, the snail densities plunged below 1.0 snail per 1.0 m2. CONCLUSIONS: The comprehensive measures of the combination of water level control, concrete slope protection and mollusciciding can effectively control and eliminate the snails, and prevent the snails from spreading.

[Cryptosporidium infection in Nanjing City from 2015 to 2016].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status of Cryptosporidium infection in the population in Nanjing City so as to provide the evidence for the prevention and control of cryptosporidiosis. METHODS: A total of 100 fecal samples were collected from each of three districts (Liuhe, Qixia and Gaochun) and one hospital (Nanjing Zhongda Hospital) in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The fecal samples were detected for Cryptosporidium with microscopy (by using the gold amine phenol-modified acid-fast staining) and the positive samples were detected again for the molecular biology confirming by using the fluorescence quantitative PCR. RESULTS: During the two years, 581 cases of normal population who lived in the city were surveyed and no Cryptosporidium infection was found. Among 202 cases of outpatients with chronic diarrhea, there were 9 Cryptosporidium positive cases with the microscope scanning method (4.46%), and among the 9 cases, 7 cases showed obvious logarithmic amplification curves showing positive Cryptosporidium nucleic acid, but 2 cases without the obvious logarithmic amplification curves, and the Cryptosporidium nucleic acid positive rate was 3.47%. CONCLUSIONS: Cryptosporidium infection is not found in the normal population of Nanjing City, but the Cryptosporidium infection is found in the chronic diarrhea patients. The results imply that we should strengthen the detection of Cryptosporidium in the chronic diarrhea patients, so as to provide the evidence for improving the diagnosis and treatment of cryptosporidiosis.

[Study on the antigenicity and HA1 gene characteristics of influenza A viruses during 2004-2008 year in China].

OBJECTIVE: To under stand influenza A viruses epidemic, antigenicity and genetic characteristics variation between the vaccine and Circulation strains during 2004-2008 year in China. METHODS: The influenza A viruses (H1N1, H3N2) isolated from 2004-2008 year were under took antigenic and sequence analysis. Influenza A virus antigenicity and genetic characteristics were analyzed thought amino acid variation compassion of HA1 protein of influenza A virus isolates. RESULTS: The antigenicity of influenza H1N1 subtype viruses isolated from 2004 to 2007 is very similar with vaccine strain A/New Caledonia/20/1999 (HIN1)-like virus. The influenza H1N1 viruses circulated in 2008 year had similar antigenic characteristics with A/Brisben/59/2007 (H1N1) which is component of influenza vaccines for northern hemisphere 2008-2009 year. The influenza H3N2 subtype viruses of 2004-2005 year had antigenic variation comparatively with vaccine strain A/Fujian/411/12002 (H3N2), The antigenicity of 2006-2007 H3N2 viruses and 2008 year's is A/Wiscansin/67/2006(H3N2) and A/ Brisben/10/2006(H3N2) respectively. CONCLUSION: There is change of influenza A viruses (H1N1, H3N2) antigenic and genetic characteristics during 2004-2008 in China.

[Establishment of a method for rapid detection of the nucleic acid of the novel A (H1N1) influenza virus].

A new flu caused by a novel influenza A(H1N1) virus has spread over the United States, Mexico and more than 40 other countries. And because of the immediate global concern, WHO has announced that the current level of influenza pandemic alert is raised to phase 5, indicating approaching of an influenza pandemic. As patients suffering from the influenza A (H1N1) have the similar symptoms as patients with seasonal influenza, differential detection and identification of the influenza virus have to depend on specific laboratory tests. We have successfully developed a RT-PCR based method for detection of the influenza A (H1N1) virus, and had applied the method to detection of clinical samples.

[Antigenic and genetic study of influenza virus circulated in China in 2006].

OBJECTIVE: To analyse seasonal influenza epidemic situation in 2006, and to analyse the genetic and antigenic characteristics of viral hemagglutinin (HA) gene. METHODS: The single-way hemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests were used to test the antigenic characteristics of these viruses from influenza surveillance network, and the HA1 genes were sequenced based on the antigenic test results according to different isolation times and sites. RESULTS: The influenza virus types A and B co-circulated in 2006. influenza A H1N1 subtype and Victoria-like B influenza circulated preponderantly during this epidemic season. The HA1 gene sequence of H1N1 viruses showed that 192, 193, 196, 198 positions (located at antigenic site B) have an amino acid substitute, compared with the last circulating strain A/Hubeihongshan/53/2005(H1N1). Two amino acid changes at 142 and 144 positions compared with A/Yunnan/1145/2005 (H3N2). There was no change in influenza B viruses either Victoria-like B or Yamagata-like B virus, i.e . antigenic characteristics is analogous to B/shenzhen/155/2005 and B/tianjin/144/2005, respectively. CONCLUSION: The H1N1 and H3N2 influenza viruses had changing antigenic and genetic characteristics in 2006. Influenza virus types B did not change in 2006.

Simultaneous measurement of various optical parameters in a multilayer optical waveguide by a Michelson precision reflectometer.

A novel reflectometer based on Michelson interference is proposed and used to measure various optical parameters of homogeneous multilayer optical waveguides. Refractive indices, thickness, insertion loss, absorbed loss, Fresnel reflectance, and diffuse reflection coefficients of optical waveguides can be measured simultaneously.

Electro-optic polymer waveguide grating with fast tuning capability.

A novel fast tunable electro-optic (EO) polymer waveguide grating is proposed and designed. Its resonant wavelength can be linearly tuned via the first-order EO effect with a high sensitivity of 6.1 pm/V. We find that the spectrum characteristics of EO polymer waveguide gratings depend strongly on many grating parameters, such as refractive-index modulation, modulation function, grating period, and period number. Material selection, fabrication technology, EO tuning ability, and polarization dependence of EO polymer waveguide gratings are also discussed. Such a waveguide grating not only overcomes the disadvantages of fiber-optic gratings, such as slow wavelength tuning ability and large-scale integration inconvenience, but also has many advantages, such as high resonant-wavelength tuning sensitivity, the same fabrication technology used for semiconductors, and polarization independence.